YH: Enter Fire
by JLBFiction
Summary: When Ares is tired of his meddling niece, he sends Macaria to the past. Once she realizes where she is, who will help her get back home without damaging the future?


Young Hercules: Enter Fire

**Disclaimer**: None are mine, I'm just playing with them. Macaria's background idea was created by a friend, and may not be used without permission.

**Summary**: Tired of his niece meddling into his affairs, Ares decides to get rid of the girl without killing her. When Macaria realizes where she was sent to, complications arise.

**Author's Note**: I don't know when chocolate appeared in Ancient Greece. But, for the benefit of this story I am making it so that it was.

"I've had it!" The God of War thundered, glaring down at the two bodies entangled on his floor. "I will not allow this any longer!" The god glared at his own niece and his nephew. One was working for him, the other against him.

"She started it Unc!" Strife whined, raising. "She had to follow me to the Halls of War. Ya know, you should really make this more hidden."

"Shut up Strife!" Ares yelled. He glared at Macaria, who was pulling herself from Strife, giving him a harsh shove. "You little girl are the bane of my annoyance." He yanked her up from Strife and forced her to stand at full height. "But no more."

"Whatcha gonna do with her Unc?" Strife asked as he rose and was behind his uncle. He made a face at Macaria, who rolled her eyes.

"This!" Another voice called. Discord orbed in, grinning. "Ready Ares?" Her dark eyes flashed like rubies. Ares nodded and the two gods held out their hands. Light glowed from it, making a vortex of some kind.

"Oh, crap." was all Macaria could say. She felt her eyes grow wide and tried to shake Ares's grip on her off. It was impossible as his hand was heavy as a metal glove. The god of war grabbed her firmly.

"See if you meddle in my affairs now." The god said, and heaved the girl into the vortex. She could hear the laughter of Discord, the high pitched snorting of Strife as the vortex closed around her. Macaria cried out once as colors assulted her. She wasn't harmed, but had no idea what was going on. As suddenly as the vortex came upon her, it stopped.

And she fell from the sky.

Macaria landed on a patch of ground. She let out a "oomph" feeling the impact. The girl rose to her feet and looked around. She was in dry area that didn't look familiar. It looked...desolate. Where had her dear uncle sent her? "Well, better get to finding my way back home." As long as she was still in Greece she could find a temple somewhere and call the Gods. It wouldn't be too hard to get home.

Right?

The girl started down a twisted walking path that lead her into a small, but bustling city. She glanced around, noticing the village people. Their clothing was different. It was more like what her grandmother would wear—simple togas, the women with their hair bound up in ringlets. She paused and studied them. Men wore simple leather breeches and vests. Nothing like what she saw the people of her village wear now.

As she walked into the town Macaria felt more than a few eyes on her. She supposed she did stand out, contrary to the other women and girls in town. Her eyes fell upon a sign and she frowned. The Greek letters read Corinth. But...that couldn't be right.

Corinth was a bit bigger than this. Macaria knew the city well. Not only was it the city of her birth but her grandmother and Jason lived here. She had briefly attended the Academy here. But this version of Corinth was much small.

"Excuse me." Macaria stopped a woman carrying a bundle of laundry with her. "What's the name of this city?"

The woman shook her head. "New in town are ya, dearie?" She gave Macaria a warm smile. "This is Corinth."

Macaria nodded and crossed her arms over her chest. "Corinth." It looked so different from this morning. What was going on? "Thank you." She told the woman and walked past her. Corinth? She frowned and continued walking. There was only one place to go from here.

The girl approached the castle of Corinth, where the King would be. Two guards stood outside and leered at her. "What do you want, girl?" A gruff sounding soilder asked.

She didn't recognize these soilders. "I need to speak with the King." Macaria said. "He'll be expecting me."

This made the men laugh. "King Aeson doesn't have time for wandering waifs such as yourself. If you'd like to be partial to the King's ear, you'll have to request an audience."

Macaria frowned. King Aeson? "You mean King Jason." She corrected the men. "And yes he would. He's my grandmother's husband." She figured it would be an easy way to identify herself.

The men looked at each other, one amused, the other studying her. "There is no King Jason. Not while the grand King is still alive. Jason is just a prince. And besides, he is doing his duty to his father by being at school."

The words sent a shiver down the girl's back. _Wait._ Her mind slowly was starting to piece things together. If Jason wasn't King yet, and Aeson was still alive...and Jason was just...a prince...

"What year is it?" Macaria timidly asked one of the guards.

The guard named a year. Macaria felt her mouth drop open as the last wheel in her mind clicked together. "Thank you." She gave a half laugh, even though nothing was funny. "Anyway. I'll just be around. Nice to...nice to..." She turned backwards and stumbled, picking herself up as she darted away. Macaria's heart beat fast.

She'd been transported to the past!

###

"I just don't see the point of this exercise." Iolaus grumped to Jason and Hercules as the young men wondered around the streets of Corinth. "We could easily learn something useful."

"Medicines are useful." Hercules contradicted Iolaus. "Chiron wants a special herb. To understand the herb's uses, we should know more about it."

Jason, crowned Prince of Corinth, nodded his head. "I have a medicine man back at the castle. He knows what to use for all kinds of things. Besides, don't you moan and groan about that kink in your back constantly?"

"If I do." Iolaus countered, "It's your fault from the way you landed on me." He insisted.

Both Hercules and Jason laughed, recalling the last practice exercise when that had just happened. "It's your own fault, Iolaus." Hercules said. As they neared the market place the young demigod picked up a packet of herbs, studying it.

"Great herbs for a young warrior such as yourself." The merchant who owned the booth said. "Not much of a smell to it, and will keep you limber."

"What is it called?" Hercules asked.

"Aloe Vera." The merchant said. "Magical healing properties. You can wear it on your skin to relieve your aches, or you can injest it. It will clean your system out properly so a young warrior such as yourself can use his full potential."

Hercules studied the herb. "Does it taste funny?"

"Not at all my young warrior. It just has a gel-like taste to it. And for you, I will sell to the lowest price of seven dinars."

It wasn't a bad deal. Hercules studied the bag. Could this be the kind of herb Chiron wanted? It couldn't hurt if nothing else. And besides, maybe one day he would be able to use it. It would make his mother worry less about him getting in fights. "Sold."

Hercules pulled out his coin bag and rooted around for a few dinars, giving the merchant what he wanted. He took the bag of herbs and placed it in his school bag. "Might not be the Herb that Chiron wants, so we need to look around more. Maybe we should split up."

"Like I'd know what I was looking for?" Iolaus asked. "Come on. If we stay together we have a better chance of finding that herb."

"Don't be lazy." Jason chided. "Herc is right. If we split up we'll find what we need between the three of us."

Iolaus rolled his eyes. "Fine. But don't blame me if I just come back with food." He said. And at the mention of food, his stomach started to rumble. "Later guys!"

"Wait Iolaus!" Hercules called. "Remember, look for Herbs!"

"Ah, come on Herc. He'll do OK. We'll meet back up at the Academy OK?" Jason gave Hercules a wave as he started on his own. Hercules glanced down at the vendor streets, shrugged and headed off. Hopefully, they'd find what they needed.

###

Corinth looked so different. To Macaria's eyes, it looked..._new._ She couldn't believe the changes in this city. Of course, it _was_ different. She was in the past. "Ares." the girl grunted as she walked along, kicking a stone or two out of her way. What was she going to do now? She had to find her uncle's temple, go and talk this version of Ares into sending her back. Ares here and Ares back in the future were more or less the same right?

She hoped.

"What do you mean it's not an herb?" Macaria turned to see a young man about her age glaring at a vendor. "It looks like an herb!" His hair was long and curly and his arms were crossed over his chest.

"I can assure you that this is not an herb." The vendor was saying. "At least, not the kind of Herb you are looking for."

"Can it pass for one?" The young man asked.

Peering at the booth, Macaria saw what it was. She smiled a little. "That's not an herb." She said.

"Thanks, but I don't remember asking for _your_ input." The young man sniped. "What is it then?" He nodded towards the pot of steaming liquid. Whatever it was, it smelled divine.

"It's chocolate." Macaria said. The vendor nodded. "Not a herb is it?" She looked at the vendor. Macaria hadn't had chocolate much herself, but when she did she loved the sweet taste.

"Chocolate." The young man studied the bowl and frowned. "So what is it?"

"Food. Snacks, I guess." Macaria shrugged. "Try it. It's really good."

"Ah. If you were to try it, would you buy some?" The vendor asked.

"If I like it, sure why not." The young man gave a shrug. The vendor took two spoons. He spooned up a bit of the dark liquid onto a spoon, handing one to the young man and one to Macaria. She thanked him and took it, licking the sweet liquid off. Her eyes closed to the delicious taste, then opened once to watch the young man. His eyes were opened and they were filled with surprise. He swallowed the bit of chocolate and then licked the spoon clean.

"Woooah. This stuff is amazing!" The young man exclaimed. "How much for a little bit?"

"For a whole pot, twelve dinars. For half a pot, ten dinars."

The young man frowned and dug into his bag attached at his hip. "I have five. How much will that get me?"

"A quarter of a pot." The vendor spooned some out into a very small clay pot. "It won't last you long at all."

"That's OK. I'll probably just let my friends try the rest of it." The young man exchanged the money for the pot. He stuck it carefully into his bag, tied it up and looked over at Macaria. "Thanks, I guess." he held out a hand. "I'm Iolaus."

Macaria nearly dropped her spoon. She quickly recovered herself, studying the youth. Maybe the name Iolaus was common. Maybe...her gaze went to his chest quickly not seeing the pendant Iolaus always wore around his neck, the gift from his father. It wasn't there.

She breathed out. It was just a common name back then, that was all. She gave a timid smile and shook his hand in a warrior's grip. "I'm Macaria."

"You new in town?" Iolaus asked her. "Haven't seen you before." He was studying her. She wore strange clothing. It was evident the girl was a warrior, but her clothing style was weird.

"You...could say that." Macaria said. "I'm just visiting. I'll be going back home shortly." Once I find Ares's temple, Macaria thought.

"Oh?" Iolaus asked curiously. "Where are you from?"

Macaria didn't know what to say. She couldn't really say Corinth, since this Corinth wasn't the same one she'd been born and raised in. So she thought quickly, a city coming to mind. "Thebes." Macaria said boldly.

Iolaus raised a brow. "Really?" He asked and gave her another quick look. "I'm from Thebes. I don't recognize you. And I've lived there my whole life."

Thebes. Damn! Her heart was pounding and her mind was racing. This couldn't be the same Iolaus. No, no, no...it wouldn't be him. Macaria found herself starting to panic a bit.

"I'm—I'm new." The girl stuttered. "I mean in Thebes. I don't know very many people there yet. Thought I'd take a trip to the market place here." She was stumbling in her speech and knew it. There was warning signals going off in her head. What was going on? How could Iolaus be so young, and Corinth be so new and...and...

"Are you alright?" Iolaus asked her.

Macaria snapped out of her thoughts. "I'm fine! I just...need to go. I'm sorry." She stumbled past Iolaus quickly, trying to vanish into the crowd. The girl looked behind her to see the youth staring after her with a concerned look. Macaria darted into a side alley and sagged against a wall.

What in Hades was going on?

TO BE CONTINUED.


End file.
